milooo's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
if i could give negative star ratings, i would. this book SUCKS. not only is it just boring and narratively all over the place, its pretty much just 500 pages of the most male gaze-y, misogynist, racist, and overall offensive story i have ever read. all the characters SUCK and Martin Amis seems to think that pointing out that they suck makes up for it. the whole tone of this book is like a 14 year old 'edgy' teen who thinks that offending people is 'dark humour', and would definitely tell you to 'just take a joke'. i'm not going to waste any more energy on thinking about this book, all i can say is don't read it. i only did because i had to for a class i was taking, and even then it took me months to finish it (i almost gave up several times, but i'm a strong believer in 'no read-y, no opinion-y')
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexism, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, and Sexual harassment
kdtoverbooked's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
I found every moment of reading this book a chore and only finished because it was on my 100 books bucket list. It’s a rambling plot that barely moves you forward and the conclusion is so cliche and obvious. Just awful.
dvaughan99's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bookhoarder_alissa's review
2.0
Well that was quite a waste of time. Thanks for nothing, professor.
The beginning sounded really promising with the 'murderee' knowing when she will die and who will be her killer. Also the narrative situation that mixed the narrator/author with the story was intitally enjoyable. However, instead of getting the promised "whydunnit" it was after the introductory chapters just 400 pages of awful, boring characters without any real development. Add to that the casual mentioning of rape and a character who prides himself if he does not rape a woman and an overall objectification of all female characters.
Really hoped for the ending to be surprising but despite the last chapters picking up a little bit of speed again, the attempted plot twist was honestly just silly because it basically made the previous 400 pages next to redundant. I skim read many paragraphs amd I don't think I missed out on anything.
The beginning sounded really promising with the 'murderee' knowing when she will die and who will be her killer. Also the narrative situation that mixed the narrator/author with the story was intitally enjoyable. However, instead of getting the promised "whydunnit" it was after the introductory chapters just 400 pages of awful, boring characters without any real development. Add to that the casual mentioning of rape and a character who prides himself if he does not rape a woman and an overall objectification of all female characters.
Really hoped for the ending to be surprising but despite the last chapters picking up a little bit of speed again, the attempted plot twist was honestly just silly because it basically made the previous 400 pages next to redundant. I skim read many paragraphs amd I don't think I missed out on anything.
kingfan30's review against another edition
2.0
I'm afraid I just didn't get this book, maybe not my sort of humour seeing as so many people say its funny. I could not connect with the character at all and found them all unlikable. I got through to the end somehow but it took a while!
jennifermarie's review against another edition
2.0
Read this when I was travelling, circa 2006, but it didn't leave any real impression on me. Haven't read anything else by him either which makes it a little difficult to compare but I thought it was okay. I struggle to enjoy the author in any other medium so have no desire to pick the book up and try again.
kirstiecat's review against another edition
4.0
I read this a few weeks ago but was in my typical maelstrom of work and shooting shows and never had a chance to write about it. Ok, well, one thing that just really strikes me about the book more than anything is how vivid the characters are and if you like rich characterizations, this book is for you. I also think the story line has quite a few twists and that the book on the whole seems filled with hints of what I would call early experimental fiction characteristics. I'd be pretty surprised if Paul Auster wasn't a fan.
blueyorkie's review against another edition
3.0
London Fields. Make no mistake about the title. There is nothing rustic about this novel. It is a story of murder, in a depressing London, not in itself - Portobello Road and its colourful facades, Notting Hill, but through the prism of the style of the author, qualified as master of the "unpleasant new".
Let's start, as Martin Amis decreed, with the potential assassin, the ill-named Keith Talent, give me the expression: small, sweeping strike, of the rogue genre, not enough shoulder for ultra-violence, the racketeering or robbery, low-level seducer. Champion of the pub he frequented, the follower of the national sport of any right self-respecting public house, darts or darts. He was hiding a woman and child in an apartment in a cramped closet. Let's move on to the victim: Nicola Six, attractive thirty-something woman, oh so artificial, quintessence in her way of the weaker sex, afflicted with a marked appetite for alcohol, and endowed with the faculty of guessing what necessarily - fatally instead,
will happen to him. And then we have Guy Clinch, the stooge of the two aforementioned, the good guy; the one who is said to be gentle with a little superior smile of commiseration suffers pain from those around him and in particular from his Pantagruel's son. Finally, let's not forget the narrator, Samson Young, author afflicted with a crying lack of imagination, being omnipresent taking us into the confidence of the novel he is writing. Who knows his characters and meets them at intervals regular and asked them to act according to his plans to tie up the work in creation.
The novel, where cynical humour is very present, describes an English Thatcherian society downgraded in the anxiety-provoking climate of possible nuclear annihilation and more broadly illustrates the absurdity and the grotesque of Western capitalist society. This disconcerting book certainly has literary qualities, but sometimes appears confused and is likely to tire more than one.
Let's start, as Martin Amis decreed, with the potential assassin, the ill-named Keith Talent, give me the expression: small, sweeping strike, of the rogue genre, not enough shoulder for ultra-violence, the racketeering or robbery, low-level seducer. Champion of the pub he frequented, the follower of the national sport of any right self-respecting public house, darts or darts. He was hiding a woman and child in an apartment in a cramped closet. Let's move on to the victim: Nicola Six, attractive thirty-something woman, oh so artificial, quintessence in her way of the weaker sex, afflicted with a marked appetite for alcohol, and endowed with the faculty of guessing what necessarily - fatally instead,
will happen to him. And then we have Guy Clinch, the stooge of the two aforementioned, the good guy; the one who is said to be gentle with a little superior smile of commiseration suffers pain from those around him and in particular from his Pantagruel's son. Finally, let's not forget the narrator, Samson Young, author afflicted with a crying lack of imagination, being omnipresent taking us into the confidence of the novel he is writing. Who knows his characters and meets them at intervals regular and asked them to act according to his plans to tie up the work in creation.
The novel, where cynical humour is very present, describes an English Thatcherian society downgraded in the anxiety-provoking climate of possible nuclear annihilation and more broadly illustrates the absurdity and the grotesque of Western capitalist society. This disconcerting book certainly has literary qualities, but sometimes appears confused and is likely to tire more than one.
bmip666's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
manavisharma's review against another edition
DNF - couldn't get behind the writing style or characters.